Cloth-shrinking machine



(No Model.)

C. W. SCHAHIHR.

CLOTH SHRINKING MACHINE.

No. 459,021. Patented Sept. 8,1891.

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V/lf/Lnecfef( di Inventor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEElcE1 CHARLES IV. SCIIAEFER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CLOTH-SHRINKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,021, datedSeptember 8, 1891.

Application led .Tune 17, 1891. Serial No. 396,589. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern;

Be it known thatLCHARLEs W. SCHAEFER, of Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clotli-Slirinking Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such will enable others skilled in the art to which .it pertains to makeand use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for steaming cloth;and it consists in certain features of construction and in combinationof parts, hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

The accompanying drawing presents an elevation in central section of adevice embodying` my invention.

A represents an upright hollow cylinder closed at the ends by means ofheads a a. The cylinder between the heads has numerous smallperforations to allow the steam to escape from the cylinder into thecloth that is supposed to be wound around the cylinder. The lower head dhas a drip hole a2 for the escape of condensed steam, and the cylinderhas a depending rim A at the bottom, that the cylinder stands on. Thisrim sets in a vessel. B, and as soon as a little condensed steam passesbeneath the rim AA and accumulates in the vessel a water seal is formedaround the lower edge of the rim of the cylinder, that prevents theescape of steam at this point.

C is a steam-pipe that enters the cylinder from above through a centralhole in head cz, a stufiing-box being provided, as at C2. This pipe C issupposed normally to extend to near the Abottom of the cylinder, fromwhence the steam on entering the cylinder rises and fills the cylinder,and from thence passes out through the perforations of the cylinder intothe cloth. The cylinder is supposed t0 be long enough to accommodate thewidest cloth to be steamed-that is to say, the narrow or single goodsare wound singly on the cylinder,while the wide or double-width goodsare wound double on the cylinder, so that usually there will be but afew inches in width variation in the different kinds of goods as appliedto the cylinder. In case the cloth is narrow, if wound next to thebottom of the cylin'derthe perforations would not be covered by thecloth near the upper end of the cylinder, in which case the steam wouldmostly es cape thro ugh these unobstructed perforations, so that butlittle steam would enter the cloth. To prevent this I provide a disk D,mounted on and rigidly secured to pipe C inside the cylinder, Theperiphery of the disk is provided with a groove and packing,v as at d,so as to make a steam-tight joint with the inside of the cylinder. Thepacking' of the disk and of the. stuffing-box causes sufficient frictionto hold the pipe and disk in place without other fastening, but thesemembers can be moved up and down the cylinder by hand. It' the cloth iswide enough to cover the entire perforated section of the cylinder, thedisk by means of the pipe is d rawn up against the upper cylinder-head.On the other hand, if the cloth is narrow it is wound on the cylinder,so as to cover the perforations at the bottom of the cylinder, and thenthe disk is depressed by means of the pipe,so as to conne the steam tothat portion of the cylinder that is covered by the cloth.

Gr is a steam-generator, that may set, for instance, on a stove or overa gas jet or burner, and 'from this generator leads a small steampipeC', connecting with the upright pipe C aforesaid. Only a slight pressureof steam is required, and dry or superheated steam is not desirable forthe purpose, but, on the contrary, the wetter the steam is on enteringthe cylinder the better, and pipe C is preferably of considerablelength, in which case this pipe will readily bend to accommodate thelimited movement up and down of pipe C. If for want of room pipe C wasnecessarily short, an elastic tube could be subtituted for a metal pipe,or a joint could be had in the metal pipe. Then the steam is dischargedinto the top of the cylinder, the most ofthe steamwill escape at or nearthe top end of the cylinder, and hence the lower portion of the clothwill receive little or no steam, especially as the supply of steam islikely to be quite limited. lith the construction shown, while the steamdischarges near the bottom of the cylinder, the tendency of the steambeing to rise, the cylinder becomes filled with steam, and the dischargethrough the perforations is more nearly equal throughout the length ofthe cylinder, by rea- IOO son of which the cloth is treatedsubstantially the same throughout its width.

The union between pipes C and Cy comprises, preferably, a femalesanember c', having a conical bore adapted to iit the correspondingconical male member c, the latter being secured to pipe C, whereby pipeC may be raised by hand to separate the pipes, so that the cylinder canbe disconnected foi-con- Venience of winding the cloth thereon, it beingfound more convenient to roll the cloth on the cylinder by rolling thelatter on the table. The friction, as between members c c', issufficient to hold the parts in contact as against the slight pressureof steam employed, and of course the gravity of pipe C also aids inholding the parts together.

That I claim is- 1. In cloth-steaming apparatus, an upright hollowperforated cylinder closed top and bottom and provided with an inductionsteampipe discharging downward into the cylinder near the bottom of thelatter, substantially as set forth.

2. In clothsteaming apparatus, an upright hollow perforated cylinderhaving an induction steam-pipe discharging downward into the cylindernear the bottom thereof, a disk mounted on the steam-pipe inside thecylinder, the disk and pipe being adjustable length' 3o wise of thecylinder, substantially as set forth.

3. In cloth-steaming apparatus, an upright hollow perforated cylinderand a steam-pipe, arranged substantially as indicated, the cylinderhaving a depending rim with a drip-hole 35 discharging inside the rim,the rim serving as a supporting-base for the cylinder, the rim beingseated in a vessel, vwhereby the condensed steam forms a water sealaround the bottom of the rim, substantially as set forth. 4o

4. In cloth-steaming apparatus, an upright hollow perforated cylinderand a steam-pipe, the latter entering the cylinder through a hole in thetop head thereof, this pipe connecting with a steam-pipe leading fromthe 45 generator by means of a conical union held in place by frictionor gravity, or both, substantially as set forth.

p In testimony whereof I sign this specification,in the presence of twowitnesses, this 1st 5o day of May, 189i.

CHARLES IV. SQHAEFER.

IVitnesses:

C. H. DORER, WARD Hoeven.

